Friday, March 27, 2009

I really enjoy watching both podcasts. My favorite of the two would have to be A Night in The Global Village. A Night in the Global Village is a podcast about students and teachers living the lives of someone less fortunate than them. The teachers explain to the students about the different groups of families. They explain the different conditions the students will be staying in. They place the students into groups then announced to the students which family they are. The students lived in the conditions as would the families. This was a very good experience for the students to see how others live and how blessed they are. I enjoyed this podcast most because it open my eyes upon the living conditions of others. I would like to experience what the students experienced.

Although, A Night in the Global Village is my favorite, The Edible Schoolyard was a good podcast as well. This podcast was about students at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School planting food, vegetables, fruit, etc., cooking, and eating it. The students were learning things that they don't even know they were learning. They learned how to set tables, how to eat and/or talk at a table, how to cook, how to plant food, and when to plant what. The best thing about this type of learning experience is that the students had fun learning.

The Night in the Global Village can be of use to me as a teacher by giving me an idea of a wonderful learning experience for my future students. It would also be a great podcast to show my future students. This way if my students are able to actually take part in a learning experience of this kind, they will be able to see it.

The Edible Schoolyard is a great teaching method I as a teacher can use at the school if given permission to. This podcast can be used by burrowing the ideas of these teachers and taking them inside the school and/or classroom. It can also be used by showing the students in the classroom.

Friday, March 6, 2009

According to Apple, iTunes University puts the power of the iTunes Store to work for colleges, universities, and other education organizations, so users can easily search, download, and play education content just like they do music, movies, and TV shows (http://www.apple.com/support/itunes_u/). On this site you can find how to, support topics for administrators and instructors. There is also, discussions, sample codes, and guides. From this site, you are also able to download the iTunes application, free of charge, to your computer. Once you download iTunes to your computer, you go to the iTunes Store and from there you will find iTunes U, iTunes University, in the column titled iTunes Store. When you click on iTunes U, there are plenty of items to choose from that will assist students and teachers.

As a student and teacher I am able to find podcasts, technology tips, and curriculum and instruction resources on iTunes U. Many of these topics and more are created by schools across the World. I am able to get different options and ideas on different topics depend on what schools and regions they are in. New Jersey's East Orange School was one of the school's podcast I took time to listen to. I really like their school's layout. They have podcast projects for science, social studies, art, etc. These could really give teachers ideas about project assignments and also help students to form ideas for their projects. I recommend iTunes U to everyone!

International Education Systems'(IES) News Section as an article titled iPods Used to Train Teachers in Zambia. The article, which was done in Nov. 2007, states how teachers are using iPods to enhance professional training in mathematics, science, and English. During this experience, EDC distributed 12 iPods to sixth grade teachers there were experienced with EDC's interactive radio instruction (IRI) and trained them in their use. The iPods were loaded with IRI lessons, audio, and video training materials designed to support teachers in their presentation of complex topics. The article also explains how the iPods help the IRI team in Zambia address the challenge of conveying concepts that are more easily explained visually. The teachers are also able to broadcast the IRI lessons without being tied to the radio broadcast schedule, if there is a connection to a foot- or solar- powered generator and a set of speakers. This initiative isn't inexpensive though. The iPods are $250 each and the generators are $250, also. Simon Richmond of EDC's International Education Systems Division, believes as technology costs decrease and access to electricity spreads in Zambia, the technology will quickly become more affordable.

According to Duke University's First Experience, Duke distributed 20GB Apple iPods devices to over 1600 first-year students entering in August 2004. Each iPod was equipped with Belkin Voice Recorders. The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) coordinated an evaluation of the academic use of iPods for students and faculty. The evaluation focused on feasibility and effectiveness of iPods as an academic tool for students and faculty. The academic use of iPods fell into five major categories: Course content dissemination tool, Classroom recording tool, Field recording tool, Study support tool, and File storage and transfer. Some of the benefits were greater student engagement and interested in class discussions, labs, etc. and flexible location-independent access to digital multimedia courses materials. Some disadvantages were difficulties in locating commercial source and obtaining licenses for content from independent and international publishers in appropriate format among others.

Both sites were very interesting, but the most interesting to me was the Zambia article. I didn't expect to find something of this sort.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Dr. Christie's site is a very useful site for me, as an educator, and other educators as well. The site is very organized and easy to asses. The information is well put together and understandable to comprehend. She has sections such as Home, About Dr. Christie, Educational Technology, Classes, Workshops, GPS and Geocoaching, Google Earth, Searching the Web, Web Design, Publications, Photography, Consulting, Site Map, and Search.

All of these sections are helpful to me but the most helpful I would say is Educational Technology. I chose Educational Technology because it has plenty of tools for K-12 teachers to use in the classroom. Dr. Christie has put some very useful tools in this section. Some of which are Podcast(which we are working on this week in class), Rubrics(which teachers will always need), and Electronic Portfolios.

CalTech Student discovers whether or not Wikipedia is a reliable source. Virgil Griffith develops a Wikipedia Scanner that scans articles on wikipedia to find out whether any material in the articles have been changed or deleted. By using the Wikipedia Scanner you or anyone else may be able to find out if the article you are willing to use from wikipedia is a trusted source of information. The Wikipedia Scanner shows when, who, and what information has been tampered with. The scanner is able to trace the information back to the computer which changed or deleted the information. The scanner is also able to tell you what information was deleted and when. Throughout this information, Wikipedia could still be a reliable source. You should not be a dependent of Wikipedia. If you are going to use wikipedia as a source, do more research on your topic.